Chinese state media covered the annual Hong Kong commemoration of the Tiananmen Massacre. Just one small detail: they lied about what it was. And only days later, the report was gone.


On June 5th, the day after the anniversary of the 1989 massacre, CCTV published on its website coverage of a candlelight vigil in Victoria Park, Hong Kong. But according to CCTV's story, 40,000 people took to the streets of Hong Kong to mourn the victims of last month's devastating earthquake in Sichuan -- not to commemorate the victims of state violence 19 years ago.

My first thought was, this should come as no surprise -- just another example of Chinese media twisting reality. But some observers interpret it differently. Ding Ziling of the Tiananmen Mothers (interviewed by Radio Free Asia) was not alone in suggesting that some brave editors at CCTV risked more than a slap on the wrist by posting that story.

Why? Because even though they couldn't write what the candlelight vigil was actually about, it was abundantly clear and they knew that. After all, to the Chinese, "6-4" (June 4th) is not just another day.

I'd like to think this interpretation is true. But whether some people over at CCTV were trying to push the envelope or trying to manipulate the Chinese public into thinking the Hong Kong vigil was entirely about the Sichuan earthquake, it seems someone there decided the article was too explicit. By the time Radio Free Asia published its report on the CCTV story, the article had already been pulled, RFA noted.

The Hong Kong vigil was in fact dedicated in part to the estimated 70,000 people who died last month in the 8.0 earthquake and the event was used to raise funds for the relief efforts.

I hope that the message thousands of Hong Kongers tried to make clear on June 4th came across in CCTV's story, and that, as Ding Ziling said, the victims of state violence can one day be publicly mourned in China just as the victims of natural disasters are.

Email Chinese President Hu Jintao from Amnesty's website and ask for justice for the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre.

Jacques Rogge’s selective silence


Published in the Taipei Times
Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008, editorial

As August approaches, there is no sign of a letup in pressure on China to honor the promises it made in return for the distinction of hosting this year’s Olympic Games. Those pledges, made with little sincerity, have since proven an invaluable foothold for Chinese activists and international organizations.

But one voice has been remarkably quiet on the guarantees it solemnly accepted seven years ago — the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which has deftly avoided pressing Beijing on its commitments in public view.

But this weekend, IOC president Jacques Rogge triumphantly broke his silence to praise improvements in China and crow over the Olympics’ “catalytic” role. His statement was complacent and disrespectful of the scores of Chinese activists who, unlike himself, have dared to push the envelope, refusing to let their government forget its promises.

And while the IOC would, in speaking out, risk only offending Beijing, the Chinese lawyers and nonprofit groups who publicly appeal for concrete change put no less than their careers, their freedoms and their family members’ freedoms on the line.

In Bucharest, Rogge said on national TV on Saturday that China’s openness over the devastating Sichuan earthquake last month showed evidence of the benefits of the upcoming Olympics.

Rogge has had nothing to say about the unyielding crackdown on Tibetans — a crackdown that has now turned into a witch hunt for troublemakers. He has likewise been reticent about restrictions on foreign media in China, which includes not only limitations in Tibet, but also unwavering barriers to meeting blacklisted environmental and social activists countrywide.

If Rogge feels that commenting on these events does not lie within the IOC’s role, neither should he step forward when the opportunity presents itself to offer a positive assessment of individual freedoms in China. This inconsistency, designed to be ingratiating to Beijing and the international community, represents a blatant rationalization of so-called Olympic principles.

In reality, the credit for keeping pressure high on Beijing goes to people like Yang Chunlin (楊春林), who was sentenced in March to five years in prison for collecting thousands of signatures from disgusted, displaced villagers accusing the authorities of caring more about Olympic glory than human rights. Such campaigners have made good use of the media ahead of the Games.

China’s response in the wake of the quake, which killed tens of thousands, has indeed displayed more openness than in past crises. With the world’s eyes bearing down as never before, China is not willing to risk being caught in a humiliating web of lies a la SARS.

And with tens of thousands of mourning friends and families — and a vast Internet-savvy population — claiming a trivial death toll this time around was not a viable option.

“You will see,” Rogge said on Saturday, “that the Olympic Games will change China.”

The Games have the potential to precipitate democratic reform, he said, adding that August will see “revolutionary” media freedoms.

The Olympics could have a lasting effect on Beijing’s administration of the country. But should this happen it will be in spite of, not because of, help from the IOC.

online: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2008/06/04/2003413729

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL invites you to

Remind China of its human rights promises
exactly 6 months before the Beijing Olympics


Beijing made certain human rights pledges (particularly concerning media freedoms) to the International Olympic Committee in order to secure the Olympics. Since winning the bid, it has been less than eager to implement changes, however.

AI will hold a demonstration on Monday, February 11th from 12p.m. to 1:30p.m. outside the White House
(Layfayette Park, Pennsylvania Ave and Jackson Pl, NW)

For more info, contact akole(AT)aiusa.org

Beijing has strengthened its crackdown on NGOS over the past two years, apparently triggered by its fear that civic groups could play a role in a color revolution, like in the Ukraine.

TAIPEI TIMES EDITORIAL: Why Beijing needs groups like PEN
Sunday, Dec 30, 2007, Page 8

Over the past month, Chinese activists have been served a grim reminder that Beijing has yet to understand the value of civil society.

A series of police sweeps has targeted civic groups and dozens have been arrested. Last week police detained Shanghai author Li Jianhong (李劍虹) and other members of Independent Chinese PEN, which promotes freedom of expression, to block an annual meeting of the association.

The irony of the situation is that civic groups hold the key to resolving many of Beijing's biggest headaches. Where Chinese authorities are dragging their feet, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are pressing for real progress. Their work on everything from caring for AIDS orphans to demanding factory clean-ups promises a better living standard for the lowest social strata.

Many of these groups work to resolve key causes of social unrest, yet Beijing persists with a crackdown on civil society that has strengthened in the past two years and will only contribute to instability, rather than forging Beijing's vision of a "harmonious society."

China's fear of civic groups is no doubt fueled in part by the memory of a Falun Gong sit-in in 1999 in Beijing. The terror of not having foreseen the mobilization of thousands of citizens was a rude awakening for the top political echelon and sparked the policy to eradicate the Falun Gong -- even though the demonstration was apolitical.

But another factor fuels China's fears. Beijing has spent the past two years fretting over tales of Eastern European and Central Asian "color" revolutions. Russia believes these revolutions were Washington-backed moves to contain the extent of Moscow's power, and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has clearly taken the warning to heart.

During his term, Hu has backtracked on years of looser reins on civic groups, which have been key to movements such as Ukraine's Orange Revolution.

And as far as Hu is concerned, any civic group is game. This month, 70 people were detained in a raid on a Bible study circle that met outside of the state-controlled religious framework. Beijing targets any organized platform for discussion -- political or apolitical -- that does not fall under its oversight.

But if there's anything more anathema to Beijing than civic groups, it is those with an international connection. So for the same reason Beijing does not recognize the pope or the Dalai Lama, and it largely blocks NGOs with international secretariats from setting up shop.

For that reason, it is surprising and a cause for hope that Beijing has, to some extent, tolerated the existence of Chinese PEN. Its members are no stranger to police harassment, but this latest incident was the first time its year-end meeting was blocked.

For PEN members -- who were given no reason for Beijing's wrath -- it is a clear sign that they will have to fight to keep their foot in the door. Another PEN center, Tibetan PEN, exists only in exile.

Beijing has lost sight of the goal. A flourishing civil society will be key to engaging the government on issues where it has made feeble progress because of corruption.

But the Chinese Communist Party is busy countering NGOs -- or, as Hu allegedly called them in an internal report, the "smokeless guns" of a US-backed plot. Regardless of what Washington is or isn't plotting, Beijing is sabotaging a wealth of resources.
This story has been viewed 268 times.

Taipei Times editorial, "No reason to trust Xinhua's facts"

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/12/16/2003392791

As news from China becomes increasingly common fare for media outlets around the world, reports from Xinhua news agency -- whose head is a top Chinese Communist Party official -- and other state-run media firms are proliferating, often as the only source, with little or no concern as to the trustworthiness of the content.

Beijing's announcement that it has reduced the application of the death penalty by 10 percent this year was widely regarded as newsworthy. But some journalists said little or nothing about compelling reasons to doubt the report.

Although the UN has called on countries that implement the death penalty to make public the details of all capital punishment cases as well as annual statistics, China continues to treat executions as a state secret. In the vast majority of cases, China does not publicly announce that a punishment has been handed down, let alone say why. Occasional comments by high-level officials, however, indicate the number of cases each year amount to thousands more than those the government makes public.

Likewise, in the wake of a visit by the UN rapporteur on torture, whose report was hardly flattering,Xinhua countered with a report that authorities had launched an anti-torture campaign and would install cameras in police interrogation rooms to discourage forced confessions -- a story that was covered in Western media.

It should come as little surprise that Beijing, in the face of mounting international pressure from non-governmental organizations and governments, is reporting sweeping improvements. But Beijing has offered not one shred of evidence to back its claims. This, combined with its continued belligerence toward journalists and independent bodies seeking to verify these claims, are ample cause for skepticism.

Reporters Without Borders, whose chief, Robert Menard, visited Taipei last week, has found in interviews with Xinhua journalists that the agency has been tasked by the government with manufacturing three versions of reality in its daily work.

News deemed too sensitive for public consumption is earmarked for circulation to government officials, while the public may, at most, hear a modified version of such reports (for example, casting demonstrators in a bad light). Meanwhile, the non-Chinese speaking world is served up a third version, in which some events -- such as natural disasters and protests -- may be reported on more extensively than at home, apparently to create the illusion of openness in the Chinese media.

Xinhua reports that seem to portray China as openly facing issues of political dissent, social unrest and corruption seem increasingly common. In the past few months, state media have variously said officials are aware of and dealing with any number of illegal land seizures, unsafe factories, corrupt officials and cases of "mass incidents."

But the content of many Xinhua reports -- including subjects that should not be political, such as death tolls and evacuation numbers in natural disasters, or the spread of diseases -- are rendered meaningless in the absence of evidence and the freedom to double-check official figures.

China's manipulation of the media reveals a government as bent on secrecy as it is on appearing open. Until Xinhua has earned credibility -- which will require broad reforms in the state and party apparatuses -- international media have a responsibility to their readers to make it clear when there is cause to doubt the source of a piece of news or when figures cannot be independently confirmed.

Political columnist Johnny Neihu of the Taipei Times tackles Beijing over its "hard work" in Tibet.

`Improved' Tibet now 15% freer

If, like me, you're particularly interested in knowing what role investors and internet companies from democratic countries play in human rights violations, you won't want to miss this article on US hedge funds by the Washington Post's Harold Meyerson.

"China's Hot Stock: Orwell Inc"

"The American economy may be teetering on the brink of a recession, but there's an industry our hedge fund gurus believe has an almost limitless future: the Chinese police state."

"To be sure, leading American companies have a long and sordid record of investing in totalitarian states, including Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Russia and axis-of-evil Iran (hello, Halliburton). But, distinguish as we must among the various levels of hell, at least those American companies did not invest in the Gestapo, the Stasi, the KGB, the Revolutionary Guard. Maybe that was only because it was hard to turn a buck on the Stasi. Once China turned communist repression into an investment opportunity, however, capitalism responded as capitalism is supposed to respond: It wanted in. There are mega-bucks to be made, the hedge funds concluded, in hedging against democracy."

A good read, although his take on religion in China is oversimplified. Meyerson writes that "mammon and the state" are the only officially sanctioned religions in China. While this makes for good reading, and certainly highlights the lack of religious freedom in China, the situation is very complicated. His mention of the Tiananmen Massacre is also an oversimplification. But Tiananmen is almost always oversimplified, and it seems to have been so from the moment Western media covered it in 1989.

Still, I'm glad columnists are jumping into the arena with analysis on China. Look out for oversimplification, though. As on any subject, it makes for a better article.

OPPRESSION WITH A SMILE
If you haven't seen the virtual police that China aims to have popping up all across the internet, take a look on the CS Monitor. The cheery cops will pop up every 30 minutes on each Internet user's screen to remind them not to try to visit blocked websites or read banned information, including information that incites "separatism."

DEMOCRACY
Li Rui, a former secretary to Mao, has called for the government to embrace democracy, which he said is the only cure to the corruption that is creating instability across the country. Li has made the same call repeatedly, but unfortunately, Beijing seems content to ignore him. Reuters

GAO ZHISHENG
Surely China's best known human rights defender, lawyer Gao Zhisheng has been detained and his whereabouts are unknown. Even the whereabouts of his family are unknown. Gao is constantly followed and harassed, as is his family, because he has repeatedly served as legal representation for dissidents and petitioners whose rights have been violated. Read more at CHRD.

WATER CRISIS AHEAD
The NY Times documents the water crisis facing northern China: "Hundreds of feet below ground, the primary water source for this provincial capital of more than two million people is steadily running dry. The underground water table is sinking about four feet a year. Municipal wells have already drained two-thirds of the local groundwater..." Read more at NYT: Beneath booming cities, China's future is drying up.

ILLEGAL LAND SEIZURES
By China's own account, almost one-quarter of land acquisitions across the country are illegal. Read more on Yahoo news.

Below is a letter based on an Amnesty International urgent action (AI pdf here) for Yang Chunlin, along with email and postal addresses to the authorities.

BACKGROUND
Yang Chunlin has been working with “a legal action brought by more than 40,000 local farmers whose land had been confiscated without adequate compensation.” He is in detention and charged with subversion of state power. “Police told the family that the main reason for his arrest was his involvement in collecting signatures for a petition titled "We Want Human Rights, not the Olympics" in villages where he had been helping farmers whose land was taken away from them without adequate compensation. The petition has reportedly been signed by more than 10,000 people, mostly the Heilongjiang farmers who had lost their land.”
_______________________

Your Excellency,

I am calling on the authorities to release Yang Chulin immediately and unconditionally, as he has been detained solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression. The police say that Yang was detained for collecting signatures for a petition titled “We want human rights, not the Olympics.” Yang’s right to petition the government, his right to freedom of expression and his right to freedom of association are all protected under Chinese law and the Constitution. As his action was in no way a crime, I urge the police to drop any charges against Yang. I also ask for a public guarantee that Yang Chunlin will not be tortured or ill-treated. If the police do not release him, he must be granted regular visits from legal counsel and family in accordance with the law.

Sincerely,
________________________

ADDRESSES:

Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Public Security, Wang Donghua
WANG Donghua Tingzhang
Heilongjiangsheng Gong'anting
145 Zhongshanlu
Nangangqu
Ha'erbinshi 150001
Heilongjiangsheng
People's Republic of China
Email: hljga [at symbol] 163.com
Salutation: Dear Director

Director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Jiamusi City Department of Public Security Jiang Zhifang
Jiang Zhifang Juzhang
Heilongjiangsheng
Jiamusi Shi Gong'anju
100 Baoweilu
Jiamusi shi 154002
Heilongjiangsheng
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Director

Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China Wu Aiying
WU Aiying Buzhang
Sifabu
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People's Republic of China
Email: minister [at symbol] legalinfo.gov.cn OR pfmaster [at symbol] legalinfo.gov.cn (c/o
Ministry of Communications)
Salutation: Dear Minister

Premier Wen Jiabao
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council
9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032, People’s Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency

(FOR US CITIZENS:)
Ambassador Wen Zhong Zhou
Embassy of the People's Republic of China
2300 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 328 2582
Email: chinaembassy_us [at symbol] fmprc.gov.cn

Nobel peace prize nominee Rebiya Kadeer is speaking in London, Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Originally a highly successful businesswoman, Kadeer ran projects to provide work training and alleviate poverty among her ethnic group, the Uyghurs in northwest China. She became a congresswoman at the national level, but eventually fell afoul of the authorities when she used her congressional right to probe allegations of a massacre in Gulja (Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) in 1997.

Kadeer traveled to Gulja to collect material and interview witnesses on what had happened and was shocked by her own findings. Like many Chinese human rights activists, she believed her work to understand the situation and inform the higher-ups of human rights violations would be taken seriously and appreciated. Instead, her research was confiscated and her nightmare began. She was jailed for 6 years, after which her release was secured through a direct dialogue between the US and China thanks to the diplomacy of Duihua Foundation founder John Kamm.

Kadeer runs the US-based NGO Uyhgur Human Rights Project. She is an amazing woman, whom I had that honor of meeting when she came to Sweden in 2005. She continues high-profile work, despite threats from the Chinese government and despite being hit in her car by the same mystery driver twice in front of her own home, which left her hospitalized. Her children still in China are variously abused, threatened and jailed to intimidate her.

London
Cardiff
Edinburgh

There is a little more background to Rebiya Kadeer and these talks on Amnesty International's website.
Thanks to Amnesty UK for the tip!

Want to tell China what you think of its use of the death penalty?

Below is a letter to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao used in an Amnesty Sweden letter writing campaign, in English and Chinese. Email or write to Wen and China's minister of justice about the death penalty in English, Chinese, or both.


给总理温家宝先生的一封信：

首先，我要赞美中国当局在人权方面的努力。尤其是同意将死刑犯交由最高法院裁决。然而，对于68种不同犯罪行为在中国可以判处死刑的政策，我感到相当忧虑。我想请求当局可以降低对于判定为死刑的犯罪种类。可以同人民公布每年死刑犯的数目。这是同世界接轨的第一步。

谢谢您花时间看完这封信。
希望中国越来越进步。

(sign name here)
________________________________________________________
Your Excellency:

First, let me congratulate China on its recent work to address human rights concerns by giving the Supreme Court the responsiblity to review all death penalty cases nationwide. However, it is worrying that 68 crimes are punishable by the death penalty in China. I urge you to reduce the application of the death penalty and to make public information about the application of the death penalty and number of people executed each year, as a step toward the global trend of abolishing the death penalty.

Thank you for your time, I wish the best for China.
Sincerely,
(sign here)
________________________________________________________

ADDRESSES:
Premier Wen Jiabao
Email: gazette [at symbol] mail.gov.cn
Post:
Premier of the People's Republic of China
WEN Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council General Office
2 Fuyoujie
Xichengqu
Beijingshi 100017
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice Wu Aiying
Email: minister [at symbol] legalinfo.gov.cn OR pfmaster [at symbol] legalinfo.gov.cn (c/o
Ministry of Communications)
Post:
Minister of Justice of the People's Republic of China
WU Aiying Buzhang
Sifabu
10 Chaoyangmen Nandajie
Chaoyangqu
Beijingshi 100020
People's Republic of China
Salutation: Dear Minister

With the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress approaching, Chinese authorities are taking out the "trash," something they are meticulous about ahead of major events.

Cleaning up usually means a visit to “problematic” parts of the city. Human Rights Watch has published a copy of a demolition notice informing the thousands of residents of Beijing's Fengtai District that the area will be razed on Sept. 19. Fengtai District is unusual in that it houses somewhere around 4,000 people petitioning the government for various grievances.

But that is not all China is doing to prepare for the congress. Radio Free Asia reports: "Authorities in major cities across China have moved to close down large swathes of the Internet, targeting `interactive' sites ahead of the Communist Party congress in mid-October, according to netizens, government Web sites, and service providers. ... in an unprecedented move, the authorities have begun switching off entire Internet data centers (IDCs), which are home to thousands of servers. This means that if one site doesn't meet government approval, because it contains pornography or politically sensitive material, all are taken offline."
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
China has also been cracking down on journalists of late, passing a disturbing new law and flaunting promises it made ahead of the Olympics:

From Reporters Without Borders: China has passed a law “which, according to the official news agency Xinhua, `bans the fabrication and spread of false information on accidents and disasters and requires the government to provide accurate and timely information.’ Called the Emergency Response Law, it will take effect on 1 November.”

China calls everything it doesn’t find flattering "false information.” This law will make Chinese journalists even more vulnerable to prosecution for reporting on serious issues.

In its latest report, Human Rights Watch details the mistreatment of journalists in China and says China has not lived up to assurances it gave the International Olympic Committee to secure the 2008 Olympics. Although China has officially granted temporary freedoms to foreign journalists, these freedoms are repeatedly violated when Chinese citizens are blocked from meeting with journalists and journalists are prevented from covering certain events. In addition, citizens are intimidated and beaten up for speaking to foreign journalists. On top of that, the new “freedoms” for journalists do not apply to Chinese journalists or translators and guides who help foreign journalists.

Although progress is being made toward abolishing the death penalty worldwide (130 countries have now abolished it in law or in practice) it's not just going to disappear without more people pushing for an end.

China executes an unknown number of prisoners each year, although it has varyingly named statistics of up to 10,000 executions per year, while other estimates quote up to 15,000 per year.

There is no such thing as a fair trial in China.

Sign the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty's online petition to stop executions worldwide.

Just two of the coalition's reasons to sign the petition:
The death penalty:

"Constantly risks the irreversible error of the execution of an innocent person"

"Provides no added value to the deterrence of crime"

This week, the Hong Kong Journalists Assocation published an open letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao calling for the release of journalist Ching Cheong on medical parole. Ching, from Hong Kong, was sentenced to five years in prison last year after collecting material in mainland China for a report. He was accused of spying for foreign parties and collecting “state secrets,” a term used in China to mean “anything Beijing doesn’t like people talking about.” (The charge is so ridiculous, it was once used to claim a copy of a newspaper bought on the street constituted possessing a “state secret.”) Ching is seriously ill and needs medical treatment he is denied in prison.
_______________________________________________________

Open Letter to President Hu Jintao:
Ching Cheong’s Health Deteriorates
HKJA Urges Release under Medical Parole


Hong Kong senior reporter, Chief China Correspondent for Singapore’s Straits Times Mr. Ching Cheong’s appeal against conviction for alleged spying was overruled by the Beijing High People’s Court last November 24. Mr. Ching Cheong was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, stripped of his political rights for a year and personal property amounting to three hundred thousand Renminbi confiscated. At present Mr. Ching Cheong is serving his sentence in Guangdong.

Mr. Ching Cheong was arrested in 4 April 2004 for allegedly disclosing state secrets. It took more than two years before he was prosecuted. However the meaning of ‘state secret’ has never been defined under the Chinese law. Therefore this sentence does raise doubts internationally.

Mr. Ching Cheong has been suffering from arrhythmia. Recently HKJA learned that his illness has deteriorated rapidly in jail. Irregular heartbeat occurs daily now. The Chinese herbal medicine which he is taking constantly keeps his blood vessels from dilating, a condition which will cause further problems later.

In addition doctor has also found polyps in Mr. Ching Cheong’s intestine. This problem has not been taken care of. These polyps may become cancerous in few years time, thereby endangering his life.

Yours sincerely,
Hong Kong Journalists Association
___________________________________________
Support Ching and the HK Journalists Association by sending your own appeal based on this letter urging the release of Ching on medical parole.

Premier Wen Jiabao gazette@mail.gov.cn

President Hu Jintao info@china.org.cn

After being jumped on again and again by human rights activists, NGOs, and politicians alike — as recently as this month, when US Congress decided to probe whether Yahoo lied to them about their activities in China — Yahoo (and let’s be fair, MSN is in on this too) signed a deal with China last week to control bloggers. When the news broke, Yahoo and MSN confirmed they had inked the agreement, but weren't in the mood to talk about it. Well, this may already be indication of a change. After the embarrassment of denying involvement in the Shi Tao case only to have document leaks prove their involvement, I guess Yahoo didn’t dare deny the reports this time around.

Read about the deal at Taipei Times. The agreement concerns registering information on anonymous bloggers, blocking “bad” blog articles, and protecting China’s “state interests.”

Also on China’s abuse of bloggers: RSF reports on He Weihua, a vocal critic and blogger who has been forced into a psychiatric ward, which is a common fate in China for dissidents.
__________________________________________________________
In the wake of the “fake” (we will probably never know if it was fake or not) report about cardboard in dumplings (for which Beijing TV reporter Zi Beijia has been sentenced to one year in prison), China has launched a crackdown on “false” reports for the “good” of the people. Obviously, considering that China has more than 50 reporters in prison (more than any other country in the world) and a penchant for punishing editors and journalists for publishing anything that embarrasses the government, this seems more likely a new excuse to jail journalists rather than a move to ensure high quality media work.
Read about the crackdown at Human Rights Watch.
__________________________________________________________
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will press China on human rights issues, including Sudan and the environment (which I do consider a human rights issue), during her visit to China this week. Financial Times.
__________________________________________________________
Yuan Weijing, the wife of Chen Guangcheng (an activist against forced abortions who is jailed for having documented forced abortions in villages) was barred from going to pick up an international human rights award in Chen’s name, but said she would try to go anyway.

Associated Press reports: "I haven't done anything wrong, so I'll give it a try, and if they stop me then it's not my problem," Yuan told The Associated Press in an interview at the apartment. "Under the law, I'm 100 percent entitled to go," Yuan said.

As I mentioned in my latest news summary, China has forced a general in Tibet to retire early over a Sept. 2006 incident involving the deaths of at least two Tibetans in a group of 70 adults and children who were fleeing to Nepal. Part of the group was detained and allegedly tortured. Here is a letter/email you can send on their behalf. To read the Amnesty International urgent action page go here.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

I am writing to urge you launch an official investigation into the allegations surrounding a Sept. 30, 2006 attack on a group of 70 Tibetans who were attempting to cross the Nangpa Pass from Tibet into Nepal, and the subsequent detention and alleged torture of members of that group. At least two minors were killed, according to mountaineers who witnessed the shooting and part of the group of Tibetans who successfully crossed over to Nepal. A 17-year-old nun, Kelsang Namtso, has been confirmed dead and an unidentified boy, age 13, was also allegedly killed.

Last week, news emerged that Lt. Gen. Meng Jinxi is being forced to retire over the incident. I urge China to take concrete steps to prevent this kind of attack and torture of detainees. Anyone found responsible for the attack or mistreatment of detainees should be brought to justice.

In addition, I urge the government to make public the fates of all Tibetans who were detained or killed for attempting to cross the Pass on Sept. 30 and to clarify whether any members of this group of Tibetans are still detained, and, if so, on what charges. Please make public the names of the remaining detainees and where they are being held. If they are not charged with a recognizably criminal offence, they must be released immediately.

Finally, I urge the authorities to compensate the families of those who were shot and killed at the Nangpa pass.

Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,

______________________________________________________________________
ADDRESSES:

Premier Wen Jiabao

Wen Jiabao Guojia Zongli
The State Council, 9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie
Beijingshi 100032, People's Republic of China
Fax: + 86 10 65961109 or 2260 (c/o Minister of Foreign Affair)
Email: gazette@mail.gov.cn
Salutation: Your Excellency

President Hu Jintao (info@cppcc.gov.cn or info@china.org.cn)

Minister of Public Security Zhou Yongkang

ZHOU Yongkang Buzhang;
Gong’anbu,
14 Dongchang’anjie,
Dongchengqu,
Beijingshi 100741, People's Republic of China;
Fax: +86 10 63099216
Salutation: Your Excellency

Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Regional People's Government Jampa Phuntsog

Jampa PHUNTSOG Zhuren;
Xizang Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu,
1 Kang'angdonglu,
Lasashi 850000,
Xizang Zizhiqu, People's Republic of China;
Salutation: Dear Chairman

Two quotes on the theme of censorship in China:

“... it’s a little strange to tie free trade
to human rights issues, it is
basically getting down to interference
in internal affairs.”

Bill Gates, then CEO of Microsoft,
standing shoulder to shoulder with then Chinese president Jiang Zemin during a photo-op in Beijing, 1994.
(source: The Golden Shield, a report on Western companies' complicity in government surveillance of Chinese citizens)

“Citizens of China are willing
to risk jail for freedom of
expression when certain
American companies are
unwilling to risk profits for
the same principles.’”

James A Leach, US Congressman,
in his statement to the US House International Relations Committee hearing on 15 February, 2006. http://wwwc.house.gov/
(source: Undermining Freedom of Expression in China, an Amnesty International report, pdf here)

I wonder if Bill Gates ever regrets saying that.

I’d like to highlight two developments this week:

China has responded to international anger over the September 2006 killings of at least two Tibetans in a group of 70 Tibetans trying to escape over the Himalayas to Nepal. In what seems seems like just another typical Beijing show unlikely to be followed by real change, the Chinese general in Tibet is “being forced into early retirement.”

This is significant because Beijing originally claimed in response to criticism over the attack that troops shot the at the group of Tibetans in self-defense (hard to believe, I know) and that this was part of “normal border management.” Is China changing its tune and admitting there’s something “abnormal” about its “border management?” Read Amnesty International’s account of the attack here. According to Amnesty’s sources, more than two people died, one of whom was 17 years old, the other was a young child.
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In addition, the Duihua Foundation has learned that: “Hu Shigen (胡石根), one of China's last remaining dissidents imprisoned for ‘counterrevolution,’ was given a 17-month sentence reduction by a Beijing court earlier this year.”

Hu was imprisoned in 1992 for trying to start a labor union and a political party.
Considering the government still cracks down on those activities today (although they are rights enshrined in the Chinese Constitution), does it matter if the “counterrevolution” charge has disappeared from courts? Now it’s just called “subversion of the state” or something similar.

I wrote the following opinion piece for the Taipei Times, published in yesterday's paper. I hope it will help even slightly in keeping Yahoo, News Corp, Google and other companies in the spotlight — as far as their actions in China are concerned — and perhaps get some reactions.   more »

This week’s easy activism: take a moment to email Chinese authorities expressing concern over violations of Tibetans’ rights. As the tension in the Tibetan area of Sichuan Province mounts over arrests made at a Tibetan festival, eight foreign activists for Tibetan Independence were detained in Beijing for peaceful protests. Tell Beijing that human rights are inalienable, meaning that peaceful political protests must be allowed.   more »

Let no one say the Duihua Foundation isn’t full of surprises. On Aug. 2, only a week after it made public a document believed to be from China’s police to Yahoo, it posted a letter from Yahoo to Chinese police, in which Yahoo provides private account information and email content.
Also this week, Radio Free Asia reported on a stand-off between thousands of Tibetans and police, following a call at a public festival for the Dalai Lama to return   more »

Yet another ethnic Uyghur from China risks being forcibly returned by a Central Asian country. Help activist Osman Alihan by emailing this letter (based on Amnesty International's urgent action) to Pakistani authorities.   more »

Noteworthy developments this week include the publication of a handwritten letter from Chinese authorities to Yahoo in the Shi Tao case, the contents of which cast doubt on Yahoo’s testimony at a US Congressional hearing. Violations of Uyghur rights also came to the fore with the release of a report about language repression in Xinjiang schools.   more »

Amnesty International USA has an online action for Ye Guozhu, who was sentenced to four years in prison after he applied for permission for a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympics. He is currently in prison.

You can read about Ye Guozhu and send an email or print out a letter and mail it from their action page.

The government has turned Baixing, a magazine that often exposed corruption, into a ''cultural and lifestyle digest''; Regulations banning organ sales have gone into effect; RSF has launched its Chinese-language Web site; Amnesty criticizes lack of change despite reforms on paper of the death penalty system   more »

Amnesty Canada reports good news about Nortel, which has not exactly been supporting human rights in China, and recommends writing a follow up letter to the company.   more »

Online petition from Reporters Without Borders for jailed cyber-dissident Yang Zili. His wife has requested a review of the trial from authorities in Beijing based on evidence indicating Yang was sentenced on "trumped up charges"...   more »

Chinese media put on points system to monitor "wrongdoing"; Uyghur activist Ismail Semed executed; Petitioners physically and mentally abused at "education" center; Author Zhang Yu prevented from entering China after attending International PEN meeting.   more »

17 Uighurs still being held at Guantanamo, even though the US has said they do not pose a threat, have been put in solitary confinement; Monk arrested, perhaps for helping people listen to Radio Free Asia; RSF invited to China for first time;   more »

Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontieres, RSF) has received Taiwan's Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award.

RSF founder Robert Menard "said the prize money that comes with the award will be used to add Chinese to the NGO's Web site, which currently provides news and reports in French, Spanish, Arabic and English. The addition of Chinese will help spread news about human rights violations in that language." (Taipei Times)

Petitioner sentenced to 2.5 years for "breaking lamps"; Police raid land rights demonstration in the south, detain protestors   more »

On February 5th there will be vigils in remembrance of the victims killed in the February 1997 Gulja massacre.

Two major vigils are scheduled for Washington D.C. and London. If you would like to join or spread the news, details can be found at www.guljavigil.org

I'm sure there will be vigils in other cities. If you know of any, feel free to post the info here.

Activist against forced abortions Chen Guangcheng loses appeal of 4 year prison sentence; Reporters Without Borders reports on a "wave of violations of online free expression" in China   more »

Amnesty International has an online action for the children of Nobel Peace Prize-nominated human rights activist Rebiya Kadeer, take a moment to email their letter.   more »

Human rights activist Guo Feixiong has been hunger-striking for 25 days in prison to protest against his torture by prison guards who want to extract a confession from him. Please send this email/letter on his behalf...   more »